got back on the car lately. got one real nice header done. not bad for my first one. started with a flange and a box of random 1 and 5/8 pipe. i really like the profile flow of it. got passenger door jam shadow box done. master cylinder cover is finished up. and i started cutting and running the bed strips for the floor. i cut 1/4 inch off all the wood floor pieses to give room for the bolts and play. quite a bit of good measuring required. to get the wood all straight and get the bolt holes drilled to go through the body braces, and keep the holes spaced properly for aesthetics. then i came to wonder how to run the cross bed strips so they meet up with the door shadow box. - do a little grinding, and put it in a press. the end result came out pretty darn good. gettin closer to have to make the trans/ firewall cover.
the floor and strips are all ligned up and bolted down inside. finally started on the tricky trans tunnel. started with a floor pattern. then made the firewall pattern that took a while. and started fillin in the gaps. getting around the steering shaft and making it seal up will be fun. just need to make sure i can remove it when it all gets done.
got my wheel adaptors so i can finally put my matching gennie wheels back on the back. fred did a really nice job from WHEELADAPTOR.COM. good price, fast shipping, and exactly the dimentions i gave him. only moved the wheels out an inch. should still look nice and light to body.
got some more work done. taking a break from workin on the firewall/trans cover. its pretty tricky gettin the steering shaft that comes through the fire wall side ways all sealed up and lookin nice. and bein able to remove it all in two pieces around the pedals. so... i built the drivers side header. and worked on gettin comfy in the car. i had the stock seats. and figured out how to lower them. had to give up the seat mount dog leg piece for the front mount cuz it was too tall. but i fig if you want to get in the back you can just fold the back down and climb over. i went and got some 5 inch high density seat foam and took a chance on it doin what i needed. and it worked perfect. it lowered me down an inch or two. so i could move the seat back and still reach the steering wheel. and my legs are straighter and not bent up under the steering wheel when feet are on pedals. and its really comfy. the old seat frame was all bent up anyway. the other thing i did was replace the rear metal cups the go on the bottom back of the seat with a shock bushing. lowered almost two inches and wont bang up the wood floor. heres the pics. and while takin the lower seat cover off i saw the upholstry guys name and the date. so now i know the car was restored around 1974. gunna make a front seat mount bracket with three hole mounting positions next. before and after
well its been quite a while since. life has had ups and downs. cleaned out the gas tank. radiator was cut down and a old shop in pa. made a whole new bottom and it fits perfect. floor is stained and done. whole car was taken apart. every part was smoothed and painted. ppainted the body structue and fire wall. sealed the cowl back to the body. every piece i made and planned on worked just right. car is super comfy to sit in . passenger seat still folds foreward and there is plenty room to sit in the back seat. almost have the battery box done and its half wired. should be firing it up next week. alot of people siad that all the things i wanted to to would be real difficult. i didnt sacrafice any of the stuff the owner wanted.
well its done. cowl gas tank. bottom of the frame channel. functioning back seat. passenger seat still folds foreward for easy rear access. original hood. and a 5 speed. alot of people said this would be a hard build and it was. seats are real comfy and seating position is really nice. everything works. took a bit to get the motor broken in and tuned right. hydrolic clutch set up i made works real well. had to make a fan belt tensioner. because the fan can never move or it will hit radiator hoses. wiring took a while. used nos tar cloth loom. brakes are great. all the electronics are in a wood box behind the drivers seat. and someone can still sit there in the back seat. i made so many parts for this car. and i wonder if anyone will notice all the little touches. put around 20 miles on the car so far and not one squeak or rattle. runs cool and can bark third gear. since these pics, i cleaned the and buffed it out
The Jalopy Journal
